The present invention relates to a replaceable sleeve which may be readily mounted onto a cylindrical carrier, and more particularly, to a replaceable sleeve comprising a multilayer reinforced composite which may be cured in a single vulcanizing step.
Rubber-covered cylindrical rollers are widely used in industry for a number of applications, particularly for web or sheet handling and processing applications such as the embossing, calendering, laminating, printing and coating of paper, film, foil, and other materials. In addition to their use in web processing equipment, such rubber-covered rollers are often employed in conveyors and various office machines. Such rollers are typically comprised of a cylindrical (metal) core or other support with an outer covering of rubber, elastomer, or polymer material. However, after extended use, the covering on the rollers wears down and must be resurfaced or replaced. This typically requires that the rollers be sent to an outside source where the old surface is ground down and a new surface is applied. This is inconvenient and expensive as it requires that the processing equipment be shut down while the roller is being resurfaced or that the end user stock additional replacement rollers. Even in the latter instance, the rollers must be eventually sent out for resurfacing.
Cylindrical rollers are widely used in the printing industry. For example, printing rollers or sleeves are used in the flexographic printing industry for providing a mountable surface for flexographic printing plates. In a typical flexographic printing press, the sleeve is mounted onto a printing cylinder using pressurized air to expand the sleeve, and the printing plates are then attached to the outer surface of the sleeve.
While thin metal sleeves for use on printing cylinders have been employed in the past, more recently, printing sleeves have been developed which are comprised of polymeric materials. For example, printing sleeves are known which include laminated polymeric layers reinforced with a woven or nonwoven fabric layer. Such sleeves provide an advantage over metal rollers in that they are readily expandable for mounting on a cylinder, are seamless, and provide good structural integrity for printing operations without the damage and safety limitations of thin metal sleeves. However, such sleeves are typically expensive and slow to fabricate as each component must be formed and cured separately and then assembled or formed into a composite. Further, many polymeric printing sleeves in use require specific polymers and/or cure temperatures, which restricts the choice of materials or properties of the finished sleeve surface which may be desired for different printing applications.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a replaceable sleeve which is readily mountable on a cylinder or other carrier, which may be fabricated quickly and easily, and which may be used in a wide variety of applications including printing applications as well as web or sheet handling or and/or processing applications and the like.